Two asteroids are expected to pass within 154,000 miles of Earth on Wednesday _ closer than the distance between the Earth and the moon, NASA announced.
Neither will hit the planet, NASA was quick to add.
Asteroid 2010 RX30 is estimated to be approximately 32 to 65 feet in size and will pass within approximately 154,000 miles of Earth at 5:51 a.m. Wednesday. The
second object, 2010 RF12, estimated to be 20 to 46 feet in size, will
pass within approximately 49,000 miles at 5:12 p.m.
NASA said the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Ariz., discovered both objects on
Sunday. The Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass.,
reviewed the observations and determined the preliminary orbits. The
center's personnel concluded both objects would pass within the
distance of the moon to Earth, approximately 240,000 miles.
The asteroids should be visible with moderate-sized amateur telescopes.
Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral 
A near-miss. We've only known since Sunday they were coming? Wonder what else is out there we don't know about?
ReplyDeleteduck
ReplyDeleteAaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!
ReplyDeleteAn asteroid impact would be just about the only thing that could happen on Earth to bring people together...provided you lived through it. Hey, asteroids are Obamas fault as we all know so, "bring 'em on".
ReplyDeleteDo you know how long it will be visible for? a split second, 30 secs, 1 min,..??
ReplyDeleteso... if an asteroid gets close to us we only get 2 days warning?
ReplyDeletewe got a long way to go
what timezone are the times?
ReplyDeleteCould someone part a cloud for me?
ReplyDeleteAre you guys really biatching about not being able to detect asteroids 50 FEET across? If they did hit it wouldn't be anything spectacular or catastrophic.
ReplyDelete20-60ft isn't nearly earth-killing size, and the smaller they are, the more burns up in the atmosphere. Even if they were to come right at us, they wouldn't cause much damage, if any.
ReplyDeleteDamn.. missed the first one.. must remember to look up later....
ReplyDeleteThe article is on FloridaToday, so presumably the times given are local to Florida, i.e. Eastern Daylight Time.
ReplyDeleteHey, asteroids are Obamas fault as we all know
ReplyDeleteThat's what I see in the movies:
Black President = Asteroid Impact.
If the asteroid did come in the atmosphere it would be a spectacular light show and most likely would not burn completely up being the size of four tractor trailers cubed and could leave quite a crater about the size of a house or two... Now its the ones that are out there the size of a small town that we need to worry about.
ReplyDeleteSOMEONE CALL BRUCE WILLIS AND PLAY AEROSMITH, that will save us
ReplyDeleteWell what do you expect with everyone wanting to cut NASA. Need money to cover more sky.
ReplyDeletenasa has quite likely known this information for a long time they probally know when the end of the world is why dont they tell us?
ReplyDeletea 60-foot rock would leave a 1/2 mile wide crater. Cool.
ReplyDeleteif this planet of ours somehow makes it to 2017, i will enjoy the eclipse, but for now, its meteorite time!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Human Race is Starting to get to big for the planet , so every so offen there is a reset ! to let us know who is in charge !! So live life to the fullest , you never know . :)
ReplyDelete"Asteroid 2010 RX30 is estimated to be approximately 32 to 65 feet in size and will pass within approximately 154,000 miles of Earth at 5:51 a.m. Wednesday. The second object, 2010 RF12, estimated to be 20 to 46 feet in size, will pass within approximately 49,000 miles at 5:12 p.m."
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe now we can get a more difinitive idea of their actual size. Obviously too late to view the one this morning, but what about the one this afternoon...it would be nice to know the area it will fly over.
True, these weren't very big ones, so the damage they'd cause would be minimal, if they didn't burn up in the atmosphere. But, the fact that they were only spotted two days ago is the worrying factor. It's perfectly reasonable that a larger, more dangerous asteroid could be spotted with very little warning before its potential impact. True, there's very little we'd be able to do about it anyway, but a little time to prepare and make peace with one's deity of choice would be nice, at least.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteA near-miss. We've only known since Sunday they were coming? Wonder what else is out there we don't know about?
Near-miss. Wouldn't that be a hit? Just saying.
Humans are a pox upon this planet.
ReplyDeleteA plague.
Parasites. Virus-like.
Let that BIG hunk of rock strike and wipe out ALL humans.
WHAM!!!!!!!!!!!
And start the cycle again. But without humans.
Not too surprising they'd miss these two, though the people saying they wouldn't do much damage apparently didn't watch Bad Universe. It wouldn't kill all of us but it could take out a few blocks. Also NASA does know when the big one is going to likely take us out. Look up Apophis.
ReplyDeleteas tiny life forms on a small palnet in the middle of nowhere, I would say that there is pretty much an infinite amount of stuff we dont know about "out there"
ReplyDeletelet it rain
ReplyDeletei saw it --i did-- i really did
ReplyDeletebarfrag: a 60-foot rock would leave a 1/2 mile wide crater. Cool.
ReplyDelete60 foot rock in space ≠ 60 rock hitting the ground.
Were supposed to stick around until 2012... right?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteAre you guys really biatching about not being able to detect asteroids 50 FEET across? If they did hit it wouldn't be anything spectacular or catastrophic.
6:35 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...
20-60ft isn't nearly earth-killing size, and the smaller they are, the more burns up in the atmosphere. Even if they were to come right at us, they wouldn't cause much damage, if any.
6:39 AM
You two have no idea of which you speak. It wouldn't end life but a 60 footer could take out an entire state the size of Delaware.
So it is a big deal.
two asteroids...two ex-wives hmmmmm
ReplyDeleteUsing Delaware as an index of largeness borders on oxymoronic. That aside, not sure the numbers are correct. According to an article I found on space.com, a 66-foot wide iron-based (the most dense, thus damaging sort) asteroid hitting Newark, NJ makes a 1-mile wide crater and is barely noticed in NYC. It sucks for Newark, undoubtedly, but unless Delaware < 1 sq mile, it hardly qualifies as annihilating an entire state.
ReplyDeleteI would spend more time looking up more scientific sources, but I actually don't care that much.
An asteroid 45-70 feet would cause a 1/2 mile crater and possibly destroy a country the size of Estonia, according to Merriam's impact physics.
ReplyDeleteI think you meant "a near-hit" Anon. As George Carlin once expounded, if it was a near-miss it would have hit.
ReplyDeleteYep, you'd be looking at some serious damage with a 40 to 60 foot wide asteriod. It aint the size baby, it's the 1. volocity, and 2. composition. It would be the biggest thing in the news, and it would be an eye opener for the entire human race. The shockwave and firestorm alone would take out the greater New York Area. It would be approx. comprable to Arizona's Meteor Crator.
ReplyDelete"....... Also NASA does know when the big one is going to likely take us out. Look up Apophis.
ReplyDelete1:16 PM "
FYI
99942 Apophis (pronounced /əˈpɒfɪs/, previously known by its provisional designation 2004 MN4) is a near-Earth asteroid that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 because initial observations indicated a small probability (up to 2.7%) that it would strike the Earth in 2029. Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth or the Moon in 2029. However, a possibility remained that during the 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a gravitational keyhole, a precise region in space no more than about 600 meters across, that would set up a future impact on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept the asteroid at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006, when the probability that Apophis will pass through the keyhole was determined to be very small. Apophis broke the record for the highest level on the Torino Scale, being, for only a short time, a level 4, before it was lowered
Damn I lost money again. I'm going to keep betting though and when we are all wiped out I'll be a big winner!
ReplyDeleteMaybe NASA should be spending more time looking for near Earth objects and less time conducting a multi-cultural outreach program.
ReplyDeleteWe should take it into consideration that this happens all the time...besides, asteroids of that size would not do that much damage if they did come into contact with the Earth. They would probably burn up in the atmosphere upon entry. Here's a general chart about how much it would take to be worrisome, sorry that it's in metric.
ReplyDeleteOBJECT SIZE IMPACT ON EARTH
10 metres Explodes harmlessly in the air
50 metres some damage on the ground
100 metres serious damage
1 kilometre affects the whole Earth
10 kilometres Few people will survive anywhere
nooooooo dont take out Delaware! Think of all the culture and history and.... oh, there isnt any? Well ok, but don't hit New Jersey by accident! Think of the housewives and the drama we'd lose!
ReplyDeletePlease hit New Jersey, please hit New Jersey.. and while we're at it.. let's nuke every studio that has ever or is currently filming any type of "reality" (Read: Completely fake) television shows.
ReplyDeleteThe size is plenty big people. A few years ago, one exploded just before impact over a desolate desert in Africa. It was only the size of a pickup but exploded with the force of a NUCLEAR BOMB!!! If one of these explodes over a populated area or large metropolitan area, it would completely destroy all things within the blast zone, which would be large!! We only had less than a days notice on that one!!!
ReplyDeletei just saw something in the eastern horizon of south florida...which prompted my research, and brought me to this sight. at first i thought it was an extremely low flying plane, its brightness and speed alone was amazing. but before i could express what i was witnessing, to alert my companion, it vanished into thin air. it's flight path was entirely straight, and not at all arched or fleeting, as meteors or "shooting stars" tend to be. this was friday evening..at approximately 10:46pm. did anyone else see it? was this one of the asteroids? interested in what everyone thinks...or saw.
ReplyDeleteIf a hurricane comes along, you move inland. If it's a big one, you move up into the hills. Where the crap do you evacuate to if it's an asteroid?
ReplyDelete2 days' notice or 2 years' notice isn't going to change the amount of nothing you can do to prepare for it. I prefer as little as possible. Or at least enough to get the batteries charged and the cameras loaded.
An asteroid will hit the earth and destroy all life 1 day after I hit the Powerball jackpot. Nostradamus predicted it!
ReplyDelete